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Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Lately I have been in unrest with my apartment. It felt empty and needed a little bit more "personality" especially in the "living room" area. I have been internet stalking all kinds of sites for inspiration, which is fine... if you live in a place where furniture can be readily found at the low price of "cheap" to fix up. In Baton Rouge the only place that has said furniture is the Salvation Army out on Airline... a 20+ minute drive away, over 2 freeways, under a few more freeways, past the wrong side of the tracks, then a little further.

I went to the Salvation Army looking for a dresser for my bedroom, so of course that's not what I found. I found a dresser that I thought I could do something with since it looks like a few things I've seen on DesignSponge lately. So of course I had to consider this. It's a good thing I did consider it, because the 70$ dresser had been there for over a month - which at the Salvation Army means 25% off! So 49.00, two helpful movers and a dresser later I was on my way home!

My apartment was not equipped for this project and I spent the next week and a half tripping over, falling over and at times crawling over the pieces of furniture now scattered about my apartment. Getting the dresser into the apartment was only a slight challenge, as the men made the task look easier. My good friend, Megan, and I soon discovered that this task would involve removing all 9 drawers (easier said than done) from the dresser while it was still loaded in the back of the Piñata (the 2004 Mitsubishi Endeavor lovingly named by my father as it has been hit more times than a piñata at a birthday party).

This is the dresser, now wiped, washed, vacuumed (no joke), and cleaned... also sanded, then re-wiped and cleaned some more.

This is the dresser in between what I would guess are coats 3 and 6 of the painting process.

All white was not an option that I thought would look this bland... it needed something to kick it up. That something I discovered was not: teal or brown, but rather "Arctic Ice" yeah, the name was that epic. Also, if you want white paint to remain white - make sure your sealant is WATER based, or it will turn a lovely shade of pastel yellow (as discovered with the dining room table).

The finished product! It now is home to my TV, and the drawers hold all of my movies, games, and tools - with a whole 4 drawers to spare. The cabinet is hiding 3 more drawers, hence the 4 drawers to spare!

And that is my new "living room" entertainment center. I love it! It goes great with my new Craigslist plush chair for *15$ which is soon to have its own brown slip cover (courtesy of Overstock.com).